FB: New England Small College Athletic Conference

[nescac1]

Kind of a bummer that on the day before NESCAC season starts, a bunch of stupid, self-congratulatory, not-terribly-witty posts by non-NESCACers have overwhelmed the board.  You don't care about NESCAC football, LewDoth?  Wow, what a BIG MAN you are!  But then why are you bothering to post, repeatedly, in a NESCAC football chat room?  And do you think anyone outside of whatever school you went to gives a damn about your football team's results, either?  Please.  

Yes, the initial post by Pallos that provoked it all was a bit douche-baggy, but the response has been a heck of a lot more douche-baggy.  If ya'll find Pallos so offensive, just ding his karma, ignore him, and go back to your own boards rather than bashing NESCAC schools / football programs, generally.  It's really pretty lame, betrays a fundamental insecurity, and has overwhelmed the few posts that actually, you know, attempted to discuss NESCAC football.  In short, go away.  

[lewdogg11]

Kind of a bummer that on the day before NESCAC season starts, a bunch of stupid, self-congratulatory, not-terribly-witty posts by non-NESCACers have overwhelmed the board.  You don't care about NESCAC football, LewDoth?  Wow, what a BIG MAN you are!  But then why are you bothering to post, repeatedly, in a NESCAC football chat room?  And do you think anyone outside of whatever school you went to gives a damn about your football team's results, either?  Please.  

Yes, the initial post by Pallos that provoked it all was a bit douche-baggy, but the response has been a heck of a lot more douche-baggy.  If ya'll find Pallos so offensive, just ding his karma, ignore him, and go back to your own boards rather than bashing NESCAC schools / football programs, generally.  It's really pretty lame, betrays a fundamental insecurity, and has overwhelmed the few posts that actually, you know, attempted to discuss NESCAC football.  In short, go away.  

Pallos has tried to make personal remarks about some of us, our families, and our upbringing, not to mention where we went to school.  Not to mention arrogant remarks about Mt. Union and other d3 powers.  I have all the reason in the world to respond to that POS as do the rest of us that he provoked.  He's obviously a piece of garbage and he can stuff it.  If you get offended by us defending ourselves, you can stuff it too.

[Yanks 99]

Kind of a bummer that on the day before NESCAC season starts, a bunch of stupid, self-congratulatory, not-terribly-witty posts by non-NESCACers have overwhelmed the board.  You don't care about NESCAC football, LewDoth?  Wow, what a BIG MAN you are!  But then why are you bothering to post, repeatedly, in a NESCAC football chat room?  And do you think anyone outside of whatever school you went to gives a damn about your football team's results, either?  Please.  

Yes, the initial post by Pallos that provoked it all was a bit douche-baggy, but the response has been a heck of a lot more douche-baggy.  If ya'll find Pallos so offensive, just ding his karma, ignore him, and go back to your own boards rather than bashing NESCAC schools / football programs, generally.  It's really pretty lame, betrays a fundamental insecurity, and has overwhelmed the few posts that actually, you know, attempted to discuss NESCAC football.  In short, go away.  

Pallos has tried to make personal remarks about some of us, our families, and our upbringing, not to mention where we went to school.  Not to mention arrogant remarks about Mt. Union and other d3 powers.  I have all the reason in the world to respond to that POS as do the rest of us that he provoked.  He's obviously a piece of garbage and he can stuff it.  If you get offended by us defending ourselves, you can stuff it too.

Ummm...I hate RPI...but if they ran the table and represented the East in the Final 4 like they did a few years back...I would care about their results...

[nescac1]

LewDoth, one guy (who didn't even attend a NESCAC school) makes a few a**holish comments, and your way of "defending yourself" is to denegrate the rest of NESCAC?  Stay classy. 

I have no idea where you went to college, and really, I could care less, but if I did know, I wouldn't be trolling around that conference board bashing all of its schools simply because of one of their alums make a few idiotic comments.   

[lewdogg11]

LewDoth, one guy (who didn't even attend a NESCAC school) makes a few a**holish comments, and your way of "defending yourself" is to denegrate the rest of NESCAC?  Stay classy. 

I have no idea where you went to college, and really, I could care less, but if I did know, I wouldn't be trolling around that conference board bashing all of its schools simply because of one of their alums make a few idiotic comments.   

I went to RPI.  And I extend the offer if you want to come on over to the LLPP.  We're actually a bunch of good dudes believe it or not.

[Yanks 99]

LewDoth, one guy (who didn't even attend a NESCAC school) makes a few a**holish comments, and your way of "defending yourself" is to denegrate the rest of NESCAC?  Stay classy. 

I have no idea where you went to college, and really, I could care less, but if I did know, I wouldn't be trolling around that conference board bashing all of its schools simply because of one of their alums make a few idiotic comments.   

Easy NESCAC...I was simply disagreeing with your point that someone outside of someone elses school wouldn't give a damn about "his" footballs teams results.  During the playoffs, once our teams are out, we generally jump on board and support the East Region reps.  You can check my posts (not that you need to or will)...I am not even close to a St. John Fisher fan...farthest thing from it.  But if they are undefeated at the end of the year and it keeps MUC out of our bracket...or if it is Fisher and MUC in the quarterfinals...I am rooting hard for Fisher to take down MUC.

We aren't "trolling" other boards here...we are all in the East Region.  If you looked at this from most of our perspectives, you wouldn't take LewDogg's responses (and plenty of others) to heart.  He wasn't bashing the NESCAC simply to bash the NESCAC...he was calling a spade a spade, or in Pallos' case an a$$hole an a$$hole.

What I am not sure of is how you can defend the guy...this isn't even my fight, but he deserves every ounce of criticism he gets from what I read.

[Pat Coleman]

Yes, the initial post by Pallos that provoked it all was a bit douche-baggy, but the response has been a heck of a lot more douche-baggy.  If ya'll find Pallos so offensive, just ding his karma, ignore him, and go back to your own boards rather than bashing NESCAC schools / football programs, generally.  It's really pretty lame, betrays a fundamental insecurity, and has overwhelmed the few posts that actually, you know, attempted to discuss NESCAC football.  In short, go away.  

It's Pallos that keeps rearing his ugly head eight days after the conversation ends and attempts to re-ignite it. That's what distracted from the actual NESCAC football talk.

[Trin9-0]

And now... back to football:

As is typical in week 1 of the NESCAC season most of the games look to be one sided. I am, however, very curious to see how the Midd-Wes game pans out. 

Can McKillop's talents alone make up for the loss of two linemen, a wide reciever and a running back who were either 1st or 2nd team All Conference last year?

How fast can Whalen turn around the Wesleyan program?

I really would like to see the Cardinals compete with the top teams in the league so I'm going to optimistically take Wesleyan on the road in a squeaker.  Otherwise I'm taking all of the home teams:

Tufts over Hamilton in characteristic defensive battle.
Williams over Bowdoin in big way.
Amherst over Bates in a bigger way.
Trinity over Colby by two scores.

Happy beginning of the NESCAC football season (finally)! 
And please remember what my dear old grandmother used to say.  If you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all. 

[Doid23]

Wow, I leave for a few days, and a fight breaks out on the NESCAC page! I'm sorry to ruin the buildup to opening weekend, but any time iamhuge engages Pallos in a discussion on NESCAC vs. The Ivy's, I'm sticking around for some fun. On a s

* Does Williams really scrimmage Amherst? That strikes me as strange given the importance both put on the end of season game. Kind of like Michigan scrimmaging Ohio State.

* When I played for Union we actually were in the NESCAC, so do I belong here or on the LL boards? As long as my coaching buddy Coach Stick is still at Amherst, I'm staying.

* As a Michigan fan, it warms my heart the Pallos went to Michigan State.

Finally, on a NESCAC related note, I coach my son's 2nd grade lacrosse team in Texas. They assign college names to the kids teams, Syracuse Orange, Johns Hopkins Blue Jays, etc. I chose the Tufts Jumbos, which has thrown the people here for a loop. When I explained that it was the obvious choice over the Ephman (not sure how they would take that), Mules, Lord Jeffs, or Bantams, they looked at me as if I was from another planet. Which, in a way, I am down here. Enjoy the games this weekend.

[nescac1]

Ummm, Yanks, I think you misread my comment as it was not addressed to you, although it is kind of annoying that 20 people took over this board for two weeks to gang up on one guy.  Who, by the way, I never "defended," and whose comments I agree were out of line.  But anyway, I'm done with all of this silliness and ready for some football. 

I agree with Trin 8-0's picks, except I do think Midd will squeak out a win, McKillop is just that good (last year he absolutely EVISCERATED almost every single season NESCAC QB record), and Wesleyan turnaround may take a bit longer.  Aren't you the guy who usually does the preaseason standings picks, or is that another Trinity poster?  In all events, I'll take a shot.

At the risk of jinxing it, I gotta go with Williams in first.  I really like their talent on the defensive front seven and offensive skill positions, and they (HUGE knock on wood) are much healthier than they've been enterring the season for some time.   Plus they get all the big games except Amherst at home. 

I'll got with:  1. Williams, 8-0   2. Trinity, 7-1  3. Middlebury, 5-3  3. Amherst, 5-3  5. Wesleyan, 4-4  6. Tufts, 3-5, 6. Hamilton, 3-5  6. Colby, 3-5,   9.  Bowdoin, 2-6  10. Bates, 0-8

[Jonny Utah]

I actually plan on going to the Tufts game tomorrow.  But here are my nescac picks:

Tufts 35 Hamilton 10 (Tufts will fight for third place this year)

Amherst 55 Bates 14 (When is the last time Bates has had a winning record?)

Trinity 24 Colby 17 (First game is going to be close in my opinion)

Middlebury 35 Wesleyan 3 (Middlebury offense won't be stopped)

Bowdoin 24 Williams 23 (Pallos Sr. gets thrown out of the stadium for taunting a 12 year old Bowdoin fan, Williams coach gets distracted by the ruckus and kicks an extra point instead of going for two as time expires to lose by one point)

[SatFan]

Always tough to tell how teams will play in the first game of the season. The coaches often aren't even sure what they have, especially with the changes at Wesleyan and Williams. (Wesleyan sure has made a commitment to football: money for new coaches, help with admissions, transfers. I expect Whelan to have an impact, but it will take three years).

Here are my best guesses for the opening weekend:

Tufts over Hamilton: Hamilton is always moving around pieces, discarding upper classmen in favor of freshman.

Williams over Bowdoin: Bowdoin lost too many players and Williams returns most. Even with the new staff, Williams should have an advantage in talent.

Amherst over Bates: The Lord Jeffs will be fired up and Bates, well it's a good school and they're nice guys.

Colby over Trinity: A surprise. Colby returns most of their skill players and they're always a tough, physical team. They played well last season, except against Middlebury, and will build on that. Trinity will be good, but while they settle in, Colby comes n for the upset.

Middlebury over Wesleyan: Hard to stop the QB and Wesleyan lacks the players, especially on the O-line.

Of course, I'm not putting money where my mouth is, just a little fun. Good luck to all.

[amh63]

Wow!  I have been traveling and this site has changed in tone for a period.  Anyway, the Amherst/Bates game will be broadcasted on the Amherst website.   To my sadness, it appears that the offensive set at Amherst remains the same...minus a fullback...for now. 
For the poster in Texas......the Amherst initial roster has a surprising number of Texas candidates.  Any influence?
In general, I find the Polar Bears and the Jumbos hard to judge this early in the season.  Last year, Amherst was lucky to beat the Polar Bears at home.  For Wes's season, IMO, it will be most interesting.  They have proven coaches but I believe the talent is at least a year away.  I am planning to see the Amh-Wes game in Middletown in Oct.   For now, I will be catching the Cornell-Yale game today.   Visiting my grandchild is the reason and she loves football.
Good luck to all the posters on their teams.

[cruiser]

Its nice to see some predictions on this board now and not just sniping.

As much as I'd love for it to happen, I don't think the Colby o-line will be up to the challenge today and the Mules will fall. Keep an eye on the Colby qb though, Nick Kmetz. If his season last year is built upon, he could be the heir apparent to McKillop as the dominant qb in the NESCAC.

Wesleyan falls to Midd. They have the right coach, but not the talent.

Tufts over Hamilton. Hamilton has the D but when will they get some O?

Williams over Bowdoin (don't know much about these teams but Williams is always strong)

Amherst over Bates in the blowout of the day.

Off to Hartford now for the Colby Trinity tilt!

[nescac1]

Crazy end to the first half of Williams-Bowdoin.  Bowdoin scored a TD after some soft two minute defense by Williams, with about ten seconds left.  Bungled the extra point however.  Ephs' Hunter Lent made a great play and somehow returned the ball all the way to the two, clock expired, but due to a penalty on Bowdoin Ephs got another untimed play.  Ephs chose to go for it rather than kick the FG and Bowdoin stuffed a running play.  Can't say I blame the coach for going for it considering how dominant the running game was all half.  Ephs up 14-6.  On the plus side for Williams, the offensive line dominated and the two running backs played very well.  The Eph passing game was awful, primarily due to numerous dropped balls that should have really been caught. 

Bowdoin moved the ball through the air well, and the new QB looks good, but for the most part couldn't run at all against the Ephs' front seven.  Bowdoin does have a nifty looking frosh RB.  Ephs' secondary looks a bit shaky, but then again Bowdoin has very good receivers.  The kicking game was absolutely atrocious for both teams.  That could be a problem all year for the Ephs, after having the best kicking game in NESCAC last year.   I expect the Williams WR's to play a much better given their ability level, but clearly the secondary and the kicking game will be the two big question marks for the Ephs this year.